Wyden in Medford Thursday to tout legislation targeting oil company profits

Nov. 3—A family farm, a Southern Oregon University student and a Rogue Valley nonprofit were among the locals who sounded off on high fuel prices outside a south Medford gas station Thursday, voicing their support for proposed legislation targeting excess profits within the oil industry.

Regular gasoline was listed at $5.29 a gallon and diesel at $5.99 Thursday at a Shell station in the 1500 block of Center Drive. At a press conference Thursday morning on the other side of the street, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said that targeted taxes focused on oil industry profits could lead to lower fuel prices for Oregonians.

"In recent days we've seen record third-quarter earning reports for the big oil crowd, particularly ExxonMobil and Shell," Wyden said. "Plain and simple, these prices are the result of profiteering."

The owners of Fry Family Farm, who attended the news event, said the cost of diesel in particular is impacting them. Founder Steve Fry said he's paying 70% more for fuel to truck his produce across the Rogue Valley and the state.

"This is crazy," Fry said. "Mr. Wyden's bill ends it."

Amber Fry, a second-generation farmer with Fry Family Farm, said at the press conference that rising diesel costs are among the reasons their 100-acre farm is struggling to eke out any profit. At this rate she fears they may not make it to a third generation, she said.

"We're not even thinking 1 to 2% profit. ... Gas prices, energy prices in general are cutting into the bottom line to a place I don't know if we're going to make it the next five years, 10 years," Fry said.

Brad Russell, executive director of Rogue Valley Family YMCA, said he hears "many stories" of fuel costs adding hardship to low-income Southern Oregonians, but fuel costs also impact the nonprofit directly.

"At the Y we do a lot of field trips. We're taking kids on buses and doing travel camps and overnight camps," Russell said. "Any effort we can do to lower gas prices, I'm all in."

Chloe Fiveash, a third-year Southern Oregon University biochemistry student who commutes from Sams Valley, said her 60-mile daily commute racks up thousands of dollars a year in fuel costs.

"Each month I would set aside at least $780 — making it out to be about seven grand a school year for my gas bill," Fiveash said, adding the costs don't include travel to her internships or other personal travel.

She said she's fortunate to have scholarships to help with her tuition, but she's had to work "at least two jobs" in order to make ends meet as a commuting student.

"Anyone who's local can understand that finding housing in Ashland is near impossible, so walking is not really an option," Fiveash said.

After the press conference, Wyden said when he hears about people who have to pay more than $7,000 a year for gas to drive to school, "I'm just not going to sit down and be quiet about it."

"These speakers — this is the face of the Oregon economy," Wyden said.

Shell made $9.5 billion in profits for the third quarter, more than double what the company made last year, according to statements President Joe Biden made Monday in response to record profits across the petroleum industry.

Exxon saw profits of $18.7 billion in the third quarter, which Biden described as "nearly triple what Exxon made last year and the most in its 152-year history."

Wyden, as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said his proposed Taxing Big Oil Profiteers Act would target oil industry profits that exceed a "normal rate of return" of 10%. He said he's structured the proposed tax legislation to focus on actual profits, rather than on individual barrels of oil.

"I don't do that because, historically, that gets passed on," Wyden said.

The bill would apply a 21% added tax on oil and gas companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Wyden said the bill "bends over backward" to target revenue windfalls but reward productivity such as training workers or "engaging in good environmental policies."

"We're giving a lot of flexibility to encourage people in the energy business to look at ways we can all get ahead together," Wyden said.

Wyden said 10% profit is "in my view a pretty fair place to start the bar. This is, in my view, very market-oriented."

Because the petroleum industry often uses profits to buy back stock, Wyden's legislation would impose a 25% excise tax on stock buybacks to discourage the practice and instead encourage companies to reinvest.

Wyden said the bill was introduced before the U.S. Senate in August and is currently "in the hopper." It has 14 co-sponsors, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

Reach web editor Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or nmorgan@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MTwebeditor.